By Bill Konway

Just as every hunt is an adventure, so is every moment spent hunting a small treasure, brimming with opportunities for amazing photography. If you have the camera, why not put it to use?

Even though the most popular photo taken of "the hunt” is the hero shot at the end of the day, with your harvest in hand, there are still so many other moments from the time you wake up until them time you arrive back home, that scream out for a shot. You've made the effort to bring the camera along. Let's put it to use throughout the hunt now.

I'm going to assume that everyone has a DSLR with some sort of flash and most likely a wide to mild telephoto lens. That's great, that's all you need. Remember that there are a lot of places between full wide and full telephoto that you can and should be using.

Moving on I'm just going to throw out possible ideas for photos and you can decide which ones you like. When the hunt begins, this might be different for each of us, but my hunt begins when I get that first cup of morning coffee. It could begin sooner I guess, but I am absolutely worthless before that first cup.

Photo opportunities

• Let's start with that morning coffee. A wide or tight shot of your buddy sipping his coffee with the steam rolling off from the chill in the air is great first shot. The possibility of the boat or truck in the background is always there as well.

• Everyone has the pile of decoys thrown in the back of the truck. Probably a tight shot that becomes more lifelike as it gets tighter.
  
  
• A wide shot of your buddies setting decoys illuminated by the headlights of the truck. A shot of a single decoy either floating high on the water or nestled down in the mud.
  
  
• Your buddies milling about in the pre-dawn light setting out the dekes. The bonus to this idea is it gets you out of the chore of setting the decoys.
  
  
• How about the small wisp of smoke coming out of the end of the gun barrel after a flock passes through.
  
  
• A shot of a few spent shells floating in the water. (I know you'll pick these up before you head home).
  
  
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